Dear senators: what good are you?

I realize that, like many of my fellow free-speechers, I should probably be rejoicing in the recent enquiry into free speech that was called by Senator Doug Finley on the Senate floor a day or two ago.

Blazing Cat Fur has been all over it, with transcripts of free-speechy comments by Senators Doug Finley, Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy, and David Tkachuk. Small Dead Animals has provided some coverage here and here, too, as has Mark Steyn in his blog, Kady O'Malley at Inside Politics, and Truepeers at Covenant Zone.

The end result, as David Akin reports for Canwest, via the Times Colonist:

OTTAWA — Senator Doug Finley led a call Tuesday to scrap a section of Canada's Human Rights Act that he and other Conservative senators say is being used to stifle free speech in Canada.

Also available in the Montreal Gazette. An official Hansard transcript of the speeches and debate can be found here.

Ezra Levant seems pretty happy over on his blog.

Now, I will be the first to admit that I haven't read through all of the remarks and debate, but here's my insta-analysis: this is amateur-hour stuff. These senators are talking about Ann Coulter and George Galloway ( didn't come up - but seriously: I think there should be somebody with a stick following Olivia Chow around to jab her in the kidneys whenever she makes a comparison between the two ), with a few skin-deep analyses of Section 13(1) and provincial matters like the Guy Earle trial currently under-way ( which they can't do anything about anyway ).

And while this is all well and good - and I will admit that it's nice to see politicians get concerned about the issue of free speech in this country - it doesn't get us anywhere at all. It looks good, but it's useless. It's a symbolic victory for the Speechers only. Seems to be about the only kind we're going to get for a while.

I mean, come on. I know that there's a problem with free speech in this country. A small army of bloggers, writers, podcasters, etc. knows that there's a problem with free speech in this country. Even people from outside this country know that there's a problem with free speech in this country. You'll have to forgive me if I'm rather impatient while our political class is still taking the time to catch up to the rest of us.

Take what you can, and take heart, Speechies. But we're in this for the long-haul. Pressure for legislative reform - Senate enquiries and speeches are fun and all, but they don't get us jack.